Missing Person Photos
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Resources for Missing Persons
According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day.
Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends.
Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.
Missing Person Photos
Jeanette Gomez Espeleta
Espeleta, date, approximate 1998
Date Missing 07/17/1998
Missing From
Fullerton, California
Missing Classification Endangered Missing
Sex Female
Race
Asian
Date of Birth 11/12/1977 (44)
Age 20 years old
Height and Weight 5'4, 130 - 150 pounds
Medical Conditions Espeleta was eight months pregnant with a girl at the time of her July 1998 disappearance. Her due date was sometime in August 1998.
Associated Vehicle(s) Silver two-door Honda Accord with the California license plate number 3SLD082
Markings and/or Distinguishing Characteristics Asian female. Brown hair, brown eyes. Espeleta has scars above her right eye and on her forehead, pierced ears and a tattoo on her ankle. She has breast implants, which feature unique serial numbers. Her name may be spelled "Janette." Espeleta is of Filipino descent.
Details of Disappearance Espeleta was last seen leaving work at the Bank of America branch in Fullerton, California on July 17, 1998. (Some agencies may state that the branch was located in Santa Ana, California). She apparently told her co-workers that she planned to head directly home afterwards. Some media reports state that Espeleta disappeared after visiting a fitness club in Anaheim, California before returning to her family's residence in the Moreno Valley.
Espeleta was driving a silver two-door Honda Accord with the California license plate number 3SLD082 at the time of her disappearance. She never arrived home as scheduled and has not been heard from again.
Authorities believe that Espeleta was abducted and died of multiple gunshot wounds on the day of her disappearance. They think her vehicle was burned and abandoned by her murderers somewhere in the Baja, California canyons, and her remains were taken about a mile off the Long Beach, California shoreline, wrapped in a tarp and chains, weighted down, and dumped in the ocean.
Espeleta's family members told investigators that it was very uncharacteristic of her to leave without warning and not contact anyone. She had all phone calls transferred to her pager if she was not at her residence.
Espeleta was preparing to move back into her family's residence in July 1998. She was excited about giving birth to her child, whom ultrasound determined was a girl. Espeleta planned to name the baby Alyssa Kaitana. Her relatives said she was looking forward to becoming a single mother. She planned a baby shower and asked her mother to prepare Philippine pancit noodles for the event.
Authorities suspected Richard Tovar, an Anaheim, California resident, Espeleta's former boyfriend and reported father of her unborn child, was involved in her disappearance. Espeleta's sister said that she had filed paternity suit papers against Tovar prior to her disappearance. He reportedly refused to acknowledge the unborn child was his daughter.
Authorities believed that Tovar was angered as a result of the impending suit and intended to murder his former girlfriend and her fetus to avoid having to make child support payments. Espeleta told her loved ones that Tovar would not be pleased with the support suit. She wrote a letter to him in early July 1998 and requested that he leave her and her baby alone, calling him an "irresponsible coward."
Tovar was arrested and charged with plotting and executing Espeleta's presumed abduction and homicide on July 28, 1998, eleven days after she disappeared. His friend, Henry Joseph Rodriguez, was charged as his accomplice.
Tovar attempted to assist investigators locate Espeleta's remains in the Pacific Ocean after his arrest. Searches extended from the waters near Long Beach to Mexico, but no evidence was located.
A mistrial was declared in Tovar's in August 2000, more than two years after Espeleta disappeared. A key prosecution witness refused to testify during the trial. Tovar was eventually convicted of Espeleta's homicide in September 2000 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Rodriguez was convicted in 2000 and sentenced to 40 years to life in prison, but his conviction was overturned in 2003. He was convicted again at his second trial. However, in February 2016, his conviction was overturned a second time and a third trial was ordered.
Espeleta's body has never been recovered, but foul play is suspected due to the circumstances involved.
Investigating Agency
Fullerton Police Department
714-738-6790
Other
California Attorney General's Office
The Orange County Register
The Riverside Press-Enterprise
The Long Beach Press-Telegram
The Contra Costa Times
The Los Angeles Times
Missing Person Photos
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown. A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, death in a location where they cannot be found (such as at sea), or many other reasons. In most parts of the world, a missing person will usually be found quickly. While criminal abductions are some of the most widely reported missing person cases, these account for only 2 to 5 percent of missing children in Europe.
By contrast, some missing person cases remain unresolved for many years. Laws related to these cases are often complex since, in many jurisdictions, relatives and third parties may not deal with a person's assets until their death is considered proven by law and a formal death certificate issued. The situation, uncertainties, and lack of closure or a funeral resulting when a person goes missing may be extremely painful with long-lasting effects on family and friends.
A number of organizations seek to connect, share best practices, and disseminate information and images of missing children to improve the effectiveness of missing children investigations, including the International Commission on Missing Persons, the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), as well as national organizations, including the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in the US, Missing People in the UK, Child Focus in Belgium, and The Smile of the Child in Greece.
Resources for Missing Persons
According to current statistics, 4,000 people in the United States go missing every day.
Sometimes a child suddenly vanishes from the bus stop or the local park or even from their own yard or bedroom. Or a teenager doesn�t return home after a walk to the neighborhood grocery store or a bike ride or a party with friends.
Other times, an adult is mysteriously absent from their job or neighbors haven�t seen them for several days, and family and friends haven�t heard from them either.
Missing Person Photos
